Final days of Lawrence Dallaglio, the last action hero

Lawrence Dallaglio puts a week of family trauma behind him to reflect on a career of glory and distinction

It should have been fun, Wednesday evening. The last Wasps dinner Lawrence Dallaglio would attend as a player and he knew the club would make a bit of a fuss. Eighteen years in the colours; from boy to man, from lanky backrower learning his trade to the warrior who played 85 times for his country. But in the house where he played rugby, Wasps was the living room.

He went there because he was running away from something. At the time he didn't understand what drove him to a place where he was a stranger. But he found it at Wasps: the Lawrence he could live with, the son who would make his parents proud. In itself, that would have been enough. But Wasps gave more: the Heineken Cups, the Premiership titles, the teammates, the coaches, the late-night curries in Sudbury town, the after-hours drinks back at the club, the